


Walking in the Dark

by The East Wind (bellgirl221b)



Category: The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez
Genre: Angst, Connor McKinley whump, Fluff, Hostage Situations, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sleepwalking, Whump, hurt!Connor, mild violence, worried!Kevin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-13 23:18:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13581024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellgirl221b/pseuds/The%20East%20Wind
Summary: Connor McKinley never told anyone about his sleepwalking problem. Now, it's gotten him into trouble.This is a modification of a story of the same title by lesbianmezzo and meggysmeg!!!





	Walking in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> As previously stated, this is not my original idea/story! Lesbianmezzo and meggysmeg have both given me their permission to add details to their story (Thank you!!). If you would like to read their original work, it's here on AO3 under the same title.

After all but leaving the church and creating their very own unique religion, the elders of District Nine were used to both great success and epic failure. The village in which they were stationed and many surrounding ones were ecstatic about Elder Cunningham’s teachings, but many were still terrified of the oppressive General. So they worked very, very hard to help the people of Uganda in whatever way they could, leaving the missionaries, and especially their district leader, utterly exhausted. Unfortunately for said district leader, Connor McKinley, this only made him sleep deeper. Meaning it was harder for him to wake up.

Elder Poptarts had to go back to America for a while, to visit some family after a distant relative died. Unfortunately, he was the only elder who was aware of Elder McKinley’s little "issue" - the issue being his tendency to sleep walk, and he refused to let Poptarts inform the others. By some sheer miracle, be it luck or the work of Heavenly Father, none of the elders had heard him talking in his sleep or moving around the kitchen at night. That is, all except Poptarts, who was a light sleeper and would be woken by the slightest mumble from his mission companion.

Poptarts was the person who would find Connor when he went off wandering into the living room or the kitchen or, once, onto the roof (both missionaries have no clue how he got up there). But now that Poptarts was away, Elder McKinley knew there was no one to stop him from getting himself into trouble. He would have locked the door if he could, but of course he and Poptarts had gotten stuck with the dodgy door that usually didn’t even close all the way, much less lock. Just his luck.

With nothing else to do except hope to the Lord that this would be one of the nights where he stayed immobile, the district leader slipped into bed and lay down. He waited, waited for the hell dreams and the sleep walking that would probably follow. Eventually, he fell asleep.

By one in the morning, he was walking. Connor McKinley left his room, made his way through the living room, went to the front door, and opened it. He walked out of the mission hut. And he kept going. 

# ____________________________________

# 

_~the next morning~ ___

____

“Has anyone seen Elder McKinley?” Elder Price asked, emerging from the hallway and into the kitchen where the other elders had gathered for breakfast.

“Isn't he in his room?” Elder Church said.

“I just checked there.” Kevin Price heaved a worried sigh. “You've been here longer than me, do you have any idea where Con... Elder McKinley goes when he wants to be alone?'

“His room.”

“Very helpful, thank you, James.” Kevin snapped. Then he sighed again. “Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to snap. It’s just not like him to disappear like this.”

James Church nodded thoughtfully, acknowledging that Elder Price was right. Suddenly more interested, the other elders exchanged worried looks around the kitchen table.

# ________________________________________

# 

Connor opened his eyes to find that he was in a small, dark room, but it wasn't his small dark room. He was on the floor – a surprisingly cold and wet floor, especially considering he was in Africa - and a sharp smell hit his nose. Was that… urine?

He pushed himself into a seated position only to freeze and cringe in pain. His head was throbbing as though his brain had been jostled out of place and he felt a stinging near his forehead. Upon touching it, he realized that he had a bleeding cut on his hairline with bruising around it. Confused, he looked around. He appeared to be in some sort of makeshift cell; it was small and grimy and reeked. He decided he must be in some man-made underground cave for it to be this cold and dark in Uganda. McKinley stood up carefully, noting, not with too much surprise, that he was in his full uniform, nametag and all (he often got dressed before going on adventures in his sleep). He moved to the door that he could barely make out in the dark. There was a small window in the metal door that had a panel over it. Not being able to remember much and needing answers, he banged on it.

“H-Hello?” he called. “Is anybody there?”

The panel in the door slid open and a pair of dark eyes stared at him. Connor stepped back and swallowed. The face moved away from the door and yelled something that Connor recognized to be in the local language. The panel was then closed.

Connor stood in the middle of the room anxiously as he heard it being unlocked. He jumped a little when the door was harshly thrown open to reveal a tall, buff Ugandan standing there.

Connor couldn’t help it. He backed away even further. He recognized the man’s eyepatch.

The General stared down at him. “You know who I am?” he barked.

Elder McKinley nodded, trying hard to stand up straight.

“So who are you?” the Ugandan demanded.

“I-I’m Elder Connor McKinley. Of the church of J-Jesus Christ of-of latter day saints,” he stuttered out.

“Why did you come here?” the General ordered before Connor had barely finished.

“To-To Uganda? I was sent by the church.”

“I do not care why you are in Uganda, white boy,” the man snapped. “Why did you come into my camp last night?”

This was news to Connor. “I… uh… I don’t really know. I don’t remember anything, but… Well, I-I do sleepwalk sometimes. Maybe I… I must have wandered here during the night.”

“You are lying,” the General spit. “You are fully dressed. And you did not stop until we knocked you out.”

Connor winced at the thought. He realized how unbelievable the story sounded, but what else could he do? “I’m t-telling you the truth. I swear it. Sir, please, I’m-I’m just a missionary, I don’t want any troub-”

“Any trouble?” the General yelled. “You and your missionaries and your new religion have been nothing but trouble for me for many weeks now, district leader.”

Connor’s breath caught before he slowly looked down at his own shirt. Right. It was on his name tag. The General must have seen it.

“You will be staying right here.” The General pointed at him. “Until I decide what to do with the leader of the white boys ruining my purge.” The General’s face twisted into something that was almost a smile and Connor felt a chill go up his spine. After all, Kevin had eventually told him what this man had done to him when he had intentionally entered his camp so many weeks ago. He knew he couldn’t keep the fear out of his eyes.

The General turned to one of his guards outside the door and gave him some orders in their native tongue as he exited. The door slammed shut and Connor was left alone with only his thoughts.

# ________________________________________

# 

“He’s not in the village.” Elder Neeley reported when he and Elder Davis returned to the mission hut. Kevin deflated, knowing that was pretty much their only hope. He fidgeted nervously with the friendship bracelet he always wore on his wrist; it had been a gift from Arnold. His mission companion had made it for him when he found out how insecure Kevin really was and now it was like a life line, whenever he was nervous he fiddled with it and whenever he doubted his self-worth it reminded him how loved he was.

“Well, if he isn’t in the village where else would he be?” Kevin asked seriously, hoping someone would know the answer.

“Maybe he just snapped, you know? Couldn’t take it anymore and just ran off.” Elder Davis commented.

“No, no, no. Elder McKinley would never do that.” Elder Michaels pointed out.

“Do you think we should call Poptarts?” Arnold suggested loudly. “He might have some clue where he might be, you know, like magical mission companion senses or something.”

“Good idea, but,” Kevin said sighed. “He’d be on the plane now. His flight left during the night.”

At that moment, the door opened, and the elders all turned sharply with the same sudden hope that their district leader had returned.

Instead, it was another elder, dragging a suitcase through the door.

“Poptarts? You’re supposed to be on a plane!” Elder Church cried.

“Yeah, my flight was cancelled, so I came back here,” Elder Thomas responded with a shrug. Then he looked around the room. “Where’s Connor?”

“Uh… I think you should sit down, Chris.” James steered the small Mormon towards the sofa.

“Is Connor ok? What’s happened? Is he sick? Oh my gosh, has he died!?!” Poptarts worked himself up by jumping straight to the worst case scenario.

Elder Church sat next to him and took both of Poptarts’ small hands in his own. “No, no. But, he has gone missing, Chris. This morning. We’ve been looking for him all day, but we don’t know where he’s gone.”

Poptarts face fell and the colour drained from his features.

“This… This morning? So you haven’t seen him since last night?”

Elder Church and the rest of the elders nodded.

“Oh no.” A tear rolled gently down Chris’ cheek.

“Hey, hey, shh. It’s ok.” James soothed as he pulled him a little closer, rubbing a hand on his back. He wanted to hug the small man, but the two had agreed to keep their relationship subtle so as to avoid possible conflict. “We’re going to find him, I promise.”

Poptarts only shook his head. “This is all my fault. I-I shouldn’t have left.”

“It’s not your fault.” James said. “You didn’t know…”

“But I did!” Poptarts cried out. The others gave him confused looks. Poptarts swallowed. “Connor he… he sleep walks. And it’s bad you guys, really bad. This one time I found him on the roof. I-I don’t know how he did it, but he was up there. Because we share a room a-and I’m such a light sleeper, I hear him moving around so I can stop him before he goes too far but… oh Heavenly Father, he could be anywhere by now! If… If I had just stayed this could have been avoided!”

“Why didn’t you tell one of us?” Kevin asked softly, coming to crouch in front of the hysterical elder.

“H-He made me promise not to tell anyone, said he’d be fine, said not to worry…” Chris mumbled miserably.

Elder Church couldn’t help it any more. He pulled Poptarts into a tight hug, and Chris let his face fall onto James’ shoulder to muffle his sobs. James rubbed his back soothingly, whispering to him that it would all be okay.

“Chris…” Kevin started carefully. “Do you know where Elder McKinley might have gone?” Poptarts removed his head from James’ shoulder long enough to give Elder Price a wide-eyed shake of his head.

# ________________________________________

# 

That night, Chris lay in bed staring at the ceiling. He was too worried about his mission companion to sleep. There was a light knock at the door.  
“Come in,” he called softly, knowing that the rest of the hut was probably asleep and having an idea of who it was.

James Church slipped into the room and closed the door behind him. He walked over to the small bed.

“C’mon. Shuffle.” he instructed. Chris moved up and James climbed into the bed with him. Elder Church wrapped his arms around Poptarts and pulled him close. Poptarts wrapped his arms and legs around the other missionary similar to how a koala might hug a branch.

“We're going to get through this, you know. Me and you, together. Okay?” James whispered.

“I love you,” was Chris' only reply.

“I love you too.” James smiled sadly and lightly pressed a kiss to the other man’s temple.

# ________________________________________

# 

Connor lay on the floor staring at the ceiling. 'I'm never going to get out of this,' he thought. 'I'm going to stay in this cell and rot away.’

He rolled on to his side. He had been able to keep his thoughts positive for a while, but he had been in this cell for so long with nothing happening that he could almost feel his hope slipping away. He had banged on the door several more times, but no one had answered. Upon wondering around, he found a bucket of water. While it didn’t look particularly clean, he grew terribly thirsty and forced himself to drink. With no windows in the cell, he had no way to gauge the passing of time and had no idea how long he’d been there. Now, curled up on his side, unable to fall asleep due to his growling stomach, he couldn’t help thinking of one particular person.

'What would Kevin do in this situation? Sweet, brave, perfect, straight Kevin…’

Connor burst into tears, not caring what anyone outside thought of him. He was 19 going on 20, and this is not where it was supposed to end. It reminded him of some of his earlier hell dreams, before the guilt became... his thoughts.

He pondered how long the General would keep him in this cell. Would he starve? Would he be killed? Would... would anyone come looking for him?

# ________________________________________

# 

“Kev, buddy, calm down…” Elder Cunningham tried to reason with his friend.

“I can't ‘calm down’ Arnold. Connor was gone all day yesterday, and he still hasn’t come back. If he wasn't in some sort of trouble he would be back by now.” Kevin paced around the foot of his bed.

“C’mon, buddy, you don’t know that for sure…”

“I know, I know. I just… have a hunch, okay? I'm-I’m worried. We need to do something. I can't just sit here like a useless-”

“Woah, woah, Kev, come here. You're getting into another spiral.” Arnold stood up and moved over to his mission companion, pulling him into a huge bear hug.

“Hey… Kevin? Um…”

Arnold pulled back to look at Kevin as he spoke nervously. Arnold never speaks nervously.

“Kevin, you're not just... worried... are you?”

“Well, of course. But, I mean, there’s also… you know, Arn, it’s complicated. Guess you should know, though. Okay, um…” He took a deep breath. “Arn, I… I think I’m…”

“I know.” Elder Cunningham smiled at his friend. “You don’t have to say anything. It's ok. And we'll find him. Don't you worry.” Arnold rubbed Kevin's back soothingly, his best friend didn't have to tell him that he was gay or that he had a massive crush on Elder McKinley. It was obvious.

“W-Well,” Kevin said, still surprised. “Do you think he...”

“I'm sure of it. And I’m sure he’s thinking of you right now, wherever he is. We'll get some people together and go looking. We'll find him.”

# ________________________________________

# 

Although Connor didn’t know it, the sun was just starting to begin its journey downward on his third day in this cell when the door was thrown open and the General and two guards entered.

“Get up,” the General ordered.

Connor, who had been curled on his side in the corner, immediately tried to hoist himself up against the wall. It took him a minute.

“Up. Now,” the General barked again.

Connor finally pushed himself off the wall and stumbled forward a little bit. His legs were shaking from strain and hunger, and his muscles felt terribly weak. He may have fallen again if the two guards hadn’t grabbed him and dragged him out of the room. Connor did his best to keep his feet under him, but the guards were apparently in a hurry because they didn’t slow down even though half the time they were supporting Connor’s full weight as his feet dragged across the dirt floor. Before Connor could figure out where they were going, a burlap sack was shoved over his head. For someone who didn’t believe that Connor hadn’t known where he was, the General sure seemed to be taking all precautions that Connor did not see his surroundings.

Connor tripped and stumbled his way forward until he could just barely see sunlight streaming through holes in the sack. The air was familiarly warm again. He was startled when he was suddenly lifted and placed on a seat. He heard an engine start – they must be in a truck. He heard some yelled commands, then the seat under him jerked forward. Yes, they were in a truck, and driving off to Heavenly Father knows where. Connor just tried to stay upright and awake.

# ________________________________________

# 

_~in the village~ ___

__The elders had looked everywhere for Elder McKinley for almost three days now, but he was nowhere to be found. They tried to continue their normal daily routines, but no one was entirely focused on his task. The sun was starting to go down, so the elders were all in the village finishing up their chores and talking with the villagers when several Jeeps drove straight into the center of the village. Before anyone could run, men with guns had jumped from the cars and formed a loose perimeter around the elders and villagers. Amidst the confusion, a few people noticed the General himself jump out of the truck and drag someone through the throng of people to the center, where a clearing was soon made as people backed away._ _

__The elders struggled to see what was going on. Pushing forward, Kevin managed to see the tall Ugandan in the center, one hand holding a pistol, the other clutching the collar of the person kneeling at his feet. Kevin caught a glimpse of the burlap sack over this person’s head, and a white shirt covered in black grime…_ _

__The General pointed his pistol into the air and fired a single shot. Everyone became quiet and somewhat still._ _

__“I am the General!” the man yelled in English, probably to mock the Mormons he could see in the crowd. “I am here to enforce the laws of Uganda. And the first thing I am going to do is free you all from religion!”_ _

__“And how are you going to do that?” one of the villagers yelled out. “Scare us out of believing?”_ _

__The General looked around at the villagers and Mormons. “I am going to make an example,” he said._ _

__The Ugandan reached down and yanked the bag off the figure kneeling at his feet. Their head was down, so all Kevin could see was the messy mop of ginger hair until the General grabbed a handful of it and wrenched the person’s head up. Kevin’s grip on Arnold’s elbow next to him tightened as his breath caught in his lungs. He heard gasps and murmurs and even a cry of “No!” from around the circle. Although there was dried blood on his face and he looked much paler than usual, it was unmistakably Connor McKinley, his blue eyes looking dazed and terrified._ _

__Two of the General’s men came forward and hoisted the trembling Mormon up before dragging him to the edge of the circle. The General moved to the other side. Connor was forced to his knees and his head was yanked up by his hair once more as the two men held him in place. The General raised his gun and aimed it at Connor. The Ugandans behind the district leader cried out and moved out of the way, and the men either side of him moved away too._ _

__At that moment, Kevin knew what he had to do, and he didn’t give a single damn about the consequences. With a yell, he pushed his way out of the crowd and ran at Connor, tackling him to the ground. He heard the gun go off as he did, but felt no pain, realizing he must have only just missed the bullet. But he apparently wasn’t the only one with this kind of idea. At the same moment, Nabulungi and two other villagers had run at the General and tackled him to the ground too, probably helping to throw off his aim. With a cry of her own, Nabulungi landed a punch to the General’s face, then another, before he stopped moving._ _

__As though on cue, several of the older male villagers had suddenly produced guns and were aiming them at the General’s men. Caught completely off-guard, the men retreated to their vehicles. With several unpleasant phrases in the local language, Mafala kicked the General’s unconscious body to them. They dragged him into a vehicle and drove off._ _

__As all this happened, Kevin lay on top of Connor slightly out of breath. Looking into his eyes, Kevin saw that Connor was shocked, confused, and still terrified. The dark blood on the side of his face was a sharp contrast to his pale skin. All Kevin knew was that he did not want to see Connor ever looking like that, so, before he even knew what he was doing, Kevin had leaned in to kiss Connor right on the mouth. To his surprise, Connor reciprocated the kiss, and they soon forgot where they were, although, to be fair, Connor probably wasn’t really sure in the first place. The two eventually broke apart._ _

__“Are you, um… God, are you okay, Connor?” Kevin asked._ _

__Connor blinked a few times, then gave a small groan. “I've b-been better,” he replied hoarsely._ _

__Kevin quickly got off Connor and helped the latter raise himself into a seated position._ _

__“Jesus, you look like shit,” Kevin told him._ _

__Connor leaned heavily on Kevin, not able to fully support himself even sitting down. “I feel like shit,” Connor deadpanned._ _

__Despite everything, Kevin was surprised. “You just swore,” he pointed out. “You never swear.”_ _

__“Given the circumstances,” Connor attempted to smirk, but ended up grimacing. “I thought I could make an exception to the rules.”_ _

__Kevin then spotted Gotswana, the village doctor, running toward them with his medical bag, and Kevin smiled gratefully at him. Gotswana kneeled down next to the two and gently raised Connor’s head off of Kevin’s shoulder._ _

__“Can you hear me, Elder McKinley?” the doctor asked, looking into the Mormon’s unfocused eyes. Connor swallowed and nodded his head._ _

__“Are you hurt very seriously?” Gotswana was now looking the district leader up and down for any major injury, fearing the worst._ _

__Now Connor shook his head. “D-Don’t think so,” he managed._ _

__Gotswana had his hands on Connor’s chest when he looked up at Kevin. “They have not fed him,” he said. Kevin realized he was right. He looked awfully small, and Kevin could feel his spine through his shirt. His throat tightened at the thought._ _

__When Gotswana had finished a quick diagnosis, he looked at Kevin again._ _

__“We can take him to your hut,” he said. “Nothing fatal.”_ _

__Kevin sighed in relief. “Come on,” he said as he gently tried to raise Connor off him. “Let's get you back to the mission hut.” Connor clung to Kevin as they both tried to get the redhead to his feet, but he was barely upright before he swayed. As his knees buckled, Kevin quickly grabbed him. Gotswana had turned to call someone to help them when Kevin quickly slipped his free arm under Connor’s legs and lifted him up bridal style._ _

__“I got him,” he told the doctor, who nodded and followed behind the two as they headed toward the hut, Connor clinging weakly to Kevin’s shoulders._ _

__Meanwhile, the Mormon’s and villagers were chasing off a few of the General’s men who had been left behind. Amid the chaos, Arnold ran up to Nabulungi._ _

__“Naba!” he yelled. “Are you alright?”_ _

__“Yes, of course,” she replied. “I haven't beat anyone up in a long time, I'm sorry…”_ _

__“Are you kidding? That was so cool!” Arnold exclaimed._ _

__“Are you sure?”_ _

__“YEAH, YOU DECKED A GUY WHO WAS TWICE YOUR SIZE!” Arnold practically screamed._ _

__“Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it,” she giggled._ _

__

#  ____________________________________________

#  ____

__Kevin kicked open the door and rushed to get Connor somewhere comfortable. He went with the sofa and gently lay Connor down, being careful of his head as he did. Gotswana came up next to him and examined Connor’s head more closely._ _

__“You need to stay awake, Elder McKinley,” the doctor chided._ _

__Connor’s eyes blinked open. “O-Okay,” he said. Kevin felt his heart melt a little and he sat down on the couch and cradled Connor’s head, squeezing his arm reassuringly through his filthy shirt._ _

__After a minute, Gotswana stood and retrieved a glass of water. When he came back, he gave Connor a few pills “for the pain” and told him to swallow them. Connor did, and drank the whole glass of water too._ _

__“Easy,” the doctor warned. “You do not want to get sick.” He then turned to Kevin._ _

__“He is starved, dehydrated, sleep-deprived, and has a small concussion, but he will be alright. He needs to eat, but not too much too fast, or he will be sick. Same for water. Since his head is not too bad, he can sleep now. He needs rest.”_ _

__Kevin exhaled slowly. “Thank you, Gotswana. I’ll take care of him,” he said._ _

__“I know you will,” Gotswana said with a smile. Then he turned and left the hut._ _

__There were a few moments of awkward silence._ _

__“I should, uh, get you something to eat,” Kevin mumbled, gently getting up from the couch and running over to the kitchen._ _

__Connor, still a little bit dizzy and barely able to move, smiled at him. “That was brave. W-What you did back there,” he said hoarsely_ _

__“What, kissing you?” came the reply, possibly a less smooth delivery than it could have been._ _

__“I meant saving my life, but that too.”_ _

__“It's nothing. I kind of... had to. Didn't I?” Kevin shrugged, returning with a Poptart and a new glass of water._ _

__“The kissing or the saving?”_ _

__“Ah, both?”_ _

__Connor smiled as Kevin sat down behind him, helping to raise him up a little. He handed him a Poptart from the package, which Connor took with trembling hands and practically inhaled. He then downed the glass of water, but Kevin restrained himself from giving him anything else, keeping Gotswana’s advice in mind, and got up to set it on the table. Connor then tried to sit up to take his shoes off, but he began to tremble, and, with a groan, he fell back against the arm of the sofa. Kevin simply shook his head, shushing him, and ran a hand through Connor's hair before he helped him take off his shoes and tie._ _

__“I-It’s okay, Kevin. I can t-take care of myse-“_ _

__“No, you can't. You're injured. Just rest, and let me help you. Please.”_ _

__Looking up at Kevin, Connor took in his anxious expression and short breaths. He reached a shaky hand up to Kevin and drew a thumb along his cheek._ _

__“How long?” Connor asked in a whisper._ _

__Kevin took a deep breath. “I know when I knew. When you found me at the bus station. I was terrified, and the first thing I saw when I woke up was you. And I knew I was safe.” Kevin smiled softly. “After that, I knew what I felt for you. And I knew I had to keep you safe, too.”_ _

__With his other hand and the last bit of strength he had in his body, Connor seized Kevin's tie and pulled him into another kiss. There were a number of "I love you"s mumbled between them, as Connor pulled Kevin closer until they were both lying on the sofa._ _

__“I'm never going to let you get yourself into so much trouble again, Connor McKinley,” Kevin breathed. Connor huffed out a laugh, not having the strength to explain to Kevin why he could never have prevented this._ _

__Kevin suddenly had a moment of realization. “Connor why are you dressed and wearing shoes if you were sleep walking?”_ _

__“Sometimes I get dressed in my sleep,” Connor mumbled. “I've chosen not to question it.”_ _

__“You're strange, you know that, right?” Kevin laughed._ _

__“And you’re not?” Connor countered._ _

__“Touché.” Kevin grinned_ _

__

#  ____________________________________________

#  ____

__Back at the village, the Mormons had begun to realize that Elder Price and Elder McKinley had disappeared, and they had yet to check on their newly found district lead. Chris, in a much better mood now, leapt onto James' back. “Let's go!” he yelled. James chuckled and started toward the mission hut. “Faster, Elder Nostrils,” Poptarts commanded, reaching around to bop Church on the nose._ _

__“Don't call me that!” James laughed._ _

__“I shall call you what I want until you speed up,” Poptarts proclaimed._ _

__“Alright, alright. Don't get your temple garments in a twist,” he laughed before setting off at a sprint._ _

__Chris threw his arms out and whooped loudly. James just laughed._ _

__

__

__The two Mormons soon arrived back at their hut, knowing the others weren’t far behind, and Chris hopped off James' back and let them in._ _

__The pair entered and found Connor and Kevin asleep on the sofa together._ _

__Chris gasped softly. “Aww!” he said._ _

__“Didn't take those two long to fall asleep,” James smiled softly. Then Chris’ attention was taken up by something else._ _

__“The bastards ate one of my Poptarts!”_ _

__“Language,” James scolded._ _

__“But that was my last one,” Chris whined._ _

__“Given the circumstances, can't you forgive them?”_ _

__“Nope!”_ _

__“You're like a kid, you know that?” Elder Neeley commented from where he had appeared behind them in the doorway._ _

__“Go away,” Chris sulked._ _

__“Come on you,” James sighed affectionately, dragging Chris out of the doorway. Once he did, Neeley and the rest of the elders entered._ _

__“Aww!” Arnold cried, followed by shushing and hushed giggles._ _

__

__

____

____

The next day, after allowing their district leader to sleep as long as possible, the elders helped Elder McKinley to his own bed where he was constantly being visited and given plenty of food and water. They took turns helping him occasionally walk around to try to get him more mobile again as he got his strength back, but Kevin was almost always with him, offering to do every chore within the hut so as to avoid having to go out and leave Connor’s side. The elders let him, silently understanding. No one mentioned how they had slept on the couch together.

Two days after the incident, Connor emerged from his room, by himself, to join the other elders for dinner, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Everyone was ecstatic, Arnold gave him a huge hug, and Kevin helped him into his seat between himself and Poptarts, who bumped his shoulder fondly. Kevin held Connor’s hand under the table as they ate, and everyone gave them happy, knowing glances through out the meal. Connor could hardly believe that after the hell he had been through only a few days earlier, he now felt happier than he had ever been.


End file.
